Automatic hide-feeding machine



June 29 1926.

W. C. WRIGHT ET AL AUTOMATIC HIDE FEEDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1924 2 Sheets-Shee't 1 June 29 1926. v 1,590,611

W. C. WRIGHT ET AL AUTOMATIC HIDE FEEDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2` Patented June 29, 192%.

UNITE sereni orties.

WALLACE, C. lVRlGvHTL QFBROICKFELL'), NRF/'i7 HAIPSHEE, .AND DANI-l.r E. HARDNG,

OF ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNRS Tt) HARDINS NGITEERING 06M'- PANY, OF yEAST BQSCEON, VIASSAGHUSETTS, A GURPORATION. OF. MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC HlE-FEEDING MAQHINE.

Application fue@ January es,Y 1924. seriai- No, 687,951,

Our invention` relates to leather Working machines, and more particularly to an improved hide feeding machine.

In the manufacture of leather fromhides, it is essential,y that. the entire hide be fed to a machine or order that some manufacturing process be performed thereon, Also it is essential that the entire hide be fed to a machine in as flat or extended a condition as` isfpossible in order that the manufacturino` operation, may bek successfully performed thereon Heretofore, because o-f the diflijculo ties of handling such an irregular shaped object as a hide or` skin', it has been necessary to. perform such feeding operation by hand, the operator of the machine not only havingk to tend to operating his machine but also tendi'ngto the feeding ofthe skins or hides there to and extend the same simultaneously With the feeding operation. The hides or skins usually come to the machine, Where the manufacturing process is, to be` performed, in the` shape of a pile or stack andi the hides or skins are takenone at a time and fed into the machine.Y Our present invention has for its'object a hide or skin feeding' machine which will automatically take hides in suiccession from a pile or stack of hides, smooth the same. out and simultaneously feed such hides to a machinelvvithout the intervention ofthe operator. @ur improved structure is particularly applicable for conjoint use with the Weighting or gauging machine invented by Dana E. AHarding, Serial No. 669,909, filed` Oct. 22, 1928, or with the boarding machine invented by Dana E. Harding,

Serial Noi 67215229, filed Nov. 1Q, 1923", thoughv the use of our invention' is notto be so' limited and it is capable of conjoint use withl any leather Working machine in which it isl necessary that such an irregular shaped object as a skin or hide be fed to a machine in an extended position. l/Ve arrange my improved structure on a supporting device that is capablev of being moved adjacent a` inachineto which hides` or skins are to be fed' and, in carrying out oui` inventiom We deu vise means operable by *thel passagev of a hide th aatoinatie operation, of the drivingv iaieeha ;a.sre,

rough the device, for controlliligS the,

In the accompanying drawings illustratingy a preferred embodiment of ourl inven'tnm,`

liig. l is a front elevation;

Fig. 2 isa side elevation;

F Sis a plan vievvv of an averagehide or skin illustrating the path of the feed rolls along` the length of the skin,

F ig. 4 is a vertical sectional side eleva`- tion` on the line H of Fig. l With the starting Wheel in position in engagement.'

with the pileor stack-of skins Fig. 5. is a, View similar to Fig. ll,

but with the starting Wheel in itsy uppermost posiface of the table, or platform aty a slight angle to` the horizontal and at a snflicient distance above the licor to allow convenient stacking of the skinsor hides 1l and proper insepction of the machine mountedl on the` table. Securedy to. the lower end olf the table 10 remote from `the stack of skins or4 hides 11 is, a` substantially Ulshaped framework 1:3, this framework extending` entirely across the end. of the table.v Rotatably mounted in suitable bearings on the up.- right portions of the frame. 13: and lyinf` ptnrallelf to the surface of the: table LO is a shaft 14e having securedy thereto adjacent one end thereof by lpin 15a ivormwheel 16 which engages, with, and isY driven by, a Worm 17 securedy toy a. shaft lthat is rotat-V ably mounted" in bearings 1.94 forme'dfinte gral with the frame member 1.3L Secured. to

the end of the shaft 1S remote, from4 the` Worm 17 is groove pulleyA 20 over Whichv` passes a driving belt f also passesoverA to nlley 221 se Yi ebelt motor 24. This motor 24 is mounted on a.

bracket formed integral with, or secured Fig. 1. A

Secured to the end of the shaft 14 remote from the worm wheel 16 is a groove pulley 26. Secured to the under side of the table 10 and at either side thereof, but rearwardly of the framework 13 are bearing members 27. Rotatably mounted in such bearing members 17 and parallel to the shaft 14 is a shaft 28. Secured to the end of the shaft 28 and in alinement with the groove pulley 26 is a groove pulley 29 and in the grooves of the pulleys 26 and 29 runs a driving belt 30 and by means of which power is transmitted from the shaft 14 to the shaft 28. The top of the table 10` adjacent the sides thereof and immediately above the shaft 28 is cut away, as indicated at 31 (see Fig. 2). Secured to the shaft 28 adjacent each end thereof are pulling or putting out brushes 32 spirallyformed on their outer surface, such spirals being either right or left hand, the function of these brushes being to pull out or flatten the skin or hide laterally as it is fed from the pile or stack .of skins 11.

Secured to the under side of the table 10 beneath the frame member 13 are two Vbearing brackets 33 spaced apart from each other and in each of the bearing brackets is pivotally kmounted one end of a bifurcated frame 34. To the free end yof each frame is secured the end cfa spring` 35, the upper end of this spring being secured to the under face of the table or platform 10. Secured in each frame 34 intermediate the ends of such frame is a shaft 36 and rotatably mounted on each of said shafts is a feed roll 37 provided with a tire or rim 38 of rubber or other resilient material. The table 10 in alinement with the feed rolls 37 is cut away, as indicated at 39 to provide a substantially rectangular opening` through which the upper end of the feed rolls 37 extend. Secured to the shafts 14 Vand spaced apart from each other and in vertical alinement with respect to the feed rolls 37 are positively driven feed rolls 40 provided with rims or tires k41 of rubber or other resilient material. The feed rolls 40, being positively driven by the rotation of the shaft 14 and in the direction of the arrow shown, are in engagement with the feed rolls 37 and the pressure between the rolls 37 and 40 is a springpressure due to the act-ion of the springs so that, if a skin orkhide 11 is fed between the rolls 40 and 37, such skin orhide will be fed in the direction of the arrow and the resilient act-ion imparted to the feed roll 37 will enable different thicknesses of hides to 'be fed through the rolls, even though the main feed roll is immovable in a vertical plane.

Secured to the cross portion of the frame member 13 by bolts 138 is a member 139 provided at its outer and upper end with laterally extending lugs or ears 140.` These lugs or ears 140 are drilled to receive the curved bar or rod 141, the curve of such rod or bar 141 being the center of the shaft 14. The upper end of the bar141 is threaded to receive the nuts 42 which prevent too great a movement of the rod or bar 141 through the lugs 140. The lower end of the rod or bar 141 is secured to a cross bar 43 of a starting wheel frame, which frame is comprised of the cross ybar 43 above described, the side members 44v and a second cross bar 45.

sliding t on the shaft 14 and are arranged on such shaft in the position shown in Fig. 1. The other adjacent ends of the side members 44 are drilled to form bearings inV grooved pulley secured to the shaft 14,

by pin 51. v Over the pulleys 49 land 50 runs a belt 52 and by means of which the starting wheels 47 are rotated from the shaft 14 in the direction of the arrow shown.

Secured to the shaft 14 adjacent one of the reed rolls 40 is a collar provided with a plurality of holes 54 longitudinally arranged therein. Rotatably mounted on the shaft 14 between the collar 53 and the other4 feed roll 40 is a clutch element 55 having formed integral therewith and at one end thereof a cam 56. Forvmed on one side of the clutch element 55 is a boss 57 in which is slidably mounted parallel to the shaft 14v a clutch pin58, which clutch pin is provided on the end remote from the collar 53 with a bevelled enlargement`59. The clutch pin 58 is arranged to be a sliding lit in any one of the holes 54 in the collar 53.v Secured one end to the enlargement 59 and the other end to any convenient portion of the clutch element 55 is the spring 60 which tends to move the clutch pin 58 to the left, as viewed in F ig. 7, yor into engagementr with the collar 53. Secured to the under face of the cross portion of the frame member 13 by bolts 66 is a. bearing bracket 67 and` The adjacent ends of theside members 44 are drilled to be a rotating or pivotally mounted in this bearing bracket 67 and depending downwardly therefrom is a curvedI arm 68. To the lower end of this arm 68 is secured by screws 69 a member 70. The lower end of this arm 70 is provided with a shaft 71 that extends outwardly from either side of such member and lies parallel to the shaft 14. Rotatably the cam 56.

mounted oh the shaft 71"V on each side of the member 7 0 is a roll 7 2, which normallyrests in engag'einent with a out out portion 61 in the face of the table 10,- and the arm es is se proportioned that the iene 72, when4 wardly eiitending arm 741 to the lower end-l of which-.is pivotally mounted, on; pin- 75, a lever 76. To the upper end or" this lever 76 is attached one end of a coil spring 77, the other end of the coil spring being attachedy to any convenient portion of the plate 189 and this spring tends to rotate the lever' l76 in suehv manner as t'o throw its lower end to the right, as viewed in Fig. -5. The plate 189 provided with a stop 85 against which the upper end of the lever 76 strikes, as clearly shown in FigaV 4l. Pivotally secured to the lower end of the lever 76 on pin 78 is the slotted end of a connecting rod 79, the other end of the vconnecting vrod being pivotally attached to the member 70. The length of the connectingrod 79 is such that, when the rolls 72 are in the position shown in Fig. 5, the lower end of the lever 76 will` be pulled to the left into the position shown in Fig. 5 and for a purpose to be hereinafter 'described Pivotally attached to thel plate 189 is one end of a trip lever 80. This trip lever eX- tends rearwardly of the machine and its end is adapted to be engaged by a stop 81 secured near the upper end of the lever 76 by screws 82. The under edge of the trip lever 8O is cut away to form, intermediate the ends of suoh lever, a wedge finger 88 that is adapted to engage with the wedge on the enlargement 59 lof the clutch pin 58. Intermediate the ends of the trip lever 8O is attached one end of a coil ,spring 84:, the ether end er this coil spring being attached to anyc'onvenient portion of the plate 189. rl"his coil spring 84C tends to move the free end ofthe trip lever 80 upward to bring the wedge finger 488 thereon out of engagement with' the wedge on the enlargement 59 of t-he clutch pin 58, or into the position shown in Fig. 5, and allowing the clutch pin 58 te engage with one or the 'other oi the holes 54, thereby rotating the clutch ele-ment and the attaehed earn 56. `Pivotally mounted on the plate 189 is a bell erank lever, one arm 86 of which extends downwardly and has rotatably mounted 'on its lower end a roller A87 which eng-agee with The other arm 88' of this bell crank leverextends forwardly and upwardly ef theinaelii'ne and is providetlonf its 'outer irte end with' anadjnsting serewh) which engages with the ulaper' edge' ofthe army 80; Pivotall-y attached' to the plate 189 at the point 91 is a lever 92, the lower endo'f member 9d and the upper one of the lugs" or ears 140 is a coil spring 95'. Secured to the upper portion of the frame mem-ber 18 is one en'd of a; 'coil spring 96, the other end of this 'coil spring being seeured to one of the side frames ai above described. The strength 'of this spring 96 is so proportioned relatively t'o' the weight ofthe framework comprised of the members 48, 44, and en and the weight4 or the starting wheels 47 as to just about balance the same, there being, howeverga tendency on the part of the weight supported by su'eh spring to sinh so as to bring the wheels' 17 into engagement with the pile' of skins or hides 10. Y

The operation of our improved device is as follows, it being assumed'that power is be ing transmitted from the motor 24% to rotate the shaft lilleontinuously and in the direction of the arrow shown in the ngures and that it is desired to feed shins or hides 11 from a pile or stacl, such as is shown' on the table or platform 10, through the machine and into anotherinachine or receptaele or wherever it is desired. The parts of the device will be assumed to be in the position shown in F ig. 5 with the rollers 72 are in engagement with the 'out out portion 61 and the outer free end of the trip lever'480 is out of engagement with the member 81 secured to the lever 76 and with the wedge linger 88 therefore out of engagement with the wedge on the enlargement 59, thus allowing the clutch pin' 58 to engage in oneq of the holes 511, thus conneeting the @am 56 to the main' drive shaft 14. The cam 56 constantly rotating, alternately engages the roll 87and the roll 98 on the bell eranh lever and on the lever 92 respectively. At each revolution of the main drive shaft le, therefore, the lever 80 is moved inte position to have the wedge finger 88 thereof engage with the wedgelshap'e'd end of the member 59, but,

because oi' the niet that the `lever 68 is in the position shown Fig. 5 and is held there by the spring 78, the member 81 on the upper end of the lever 76 is maintained out'of the path of movement of the free end v of such trip lever' 8O and after the cam has passed by the roll 87, the spring 84 will lift the wedge-shaped finger 88 upward ont of the path 'of Ain'overneintof the member nt eah i-eiolnton 'or theshaift lli', also, the

lill) rounds the arcuate shaft 141, engageswith such shaft 141 and lifts the shaft and also the framework carrying the starting wheel 47 upwardly and on the release of the lever ell) 92 by the cam 56, the weight of the framework and the starting wheel 47 will cause a movement of the starting wheel 47 downward and into position to engage with the top skinll of a pile of skins or hides that may have been placed at this timeon the table 10. The starting wheel 47 will be pre-- sumed to engage with the top skin 11 and will, therefore, feed the saine in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, downward toward the feed rolls 40 and 37 and in this movement the skin or-hidell will come into engagement with the brush rolls 32 which will tend to force the sides of the skin or hide outward laterally with re spect to the line of movement thereof. Thel skin or hide 11 will be forced between the feed rolls 40 and 37 and in this feeding movement will engage with the rolls 72. The distance between the engaging point of the rollers 40 and 37 and the starting wheel 47 is so proportioned relative to the diameter of the feed wheel 40 and the starting wheel 47 that the forward end of a hide 11 will have assumed the position shown in Fig. 4 by the time the cam 56 or shaft 14 will have made a complete revo-lution. At this time the cam 56 will .be in the position shown in Fig. 4 preparatory to moving the arm 92 from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5; that is, the lever 92 and pivoted portion 94 moves the starting wheel 47 out of engage-- c C o ment with the pile of skins or hides 11. yEngagement of the skin or hide 11 with the roll 72 ,will force such roll 72, and therefore.

the lever 68, on which they are mounted, upwardand to the right, as viewed in Fig. 4', and into such a position that the slotted end of the connecting rod 79 moves relatively to the pin 78 on the lower end of the lever 76 and allowing the spring 7 7 to move the upper end of such lever 76 with the block 81 attached thereto into the position shown in Fig. 4 against the stop 85 o-r into such a position as to place such block 81 into the path. of movement of the free end of the lever 80. In this position of the lever SO, which willr be assumed when the cam 56 engages with the roller 87 on the arm 86 of the bell crank lever, the wedge finger 83 is in position to engage with the wedge end of the enlargement 59 and, when this engagement takes place, the clutch pin 58 will be moved out of engagement with the hole 54 in thel collar 53 and the parts will be held in the position shown in Fig. 4 with the cam 56 stationary or non-rotatable with respect to the shaft 14. This condition will prevail until the skin or hide 11 has been fed `entirely through the machine, at which time the rolls 72 willfbe out of engagement with the skin or hide 11 and the spring 73, therefore, will move the arm 68 and rolls 72 back into the position shown in Fig. 5. As the lever 68 assumes this position, as shown in Fig. 5, the slotted end of the connecting rod 7 9 will engage with the pin 7 8 and move t-he blockV 81 on the lever 76 out of engagement with the free end of the lever 8O whereupon the spring 84 moves the lever 8O upward and freeing the wedge finger S3 from engagement vwith the wedge end of the enlargement 59 and allowing ythe clutch pin 58 to again engage with the collar 53.

Vhile we have necessarily shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention somewhat in detail, it is to be understood that we may vary the size, shape, and arrangement of parts within wide limits without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus V described our invention, what we claim as new is:

1. In a hide feeding machine, the combination of a main drive shaft, a feed wheel secured thereon, an idler feed wheel associated with said feed wheel, a starting wheel normally in engagement with the top hide of a pile of hides and operable to feed said hides in succession to the feed wheels, means for smoothing said hides fiat before their engagement with the feed wheels, and means associated with said drive shaft and operable, when a hide has been engaged by the feed wheels, for moving said starting wheel out of engagement with said .hides and Aholding the-same out of engagement until such hide has passed entirely beyond the feed wheels.

2. In a hide feeding machine, the combination of a drive shaft, a feed wheel mounted thereon, an lidler feed wheel associated therewith, a frame pivotally mounted on said shaft, a starting wheel rotatably mounted on said frame, means for constantly driving said starting wheel from the drive shaft, a cam rotatably mounted on said shaft, a clutch'intermittently operated to connect the 'cam with the shaft, andv means operable, when a hide has been engaged by the feed wheels, for operating said clutch to cause a swinging upward movement of the frame to move and hold the starting wheel out of engagement with the pile ofhides until the first said hide has been fed through themachine.

3. In a hide feeding machine, the combination of cooperating feed wheels, means for driving the' same, a starting wheel for feeding hides in succession from a stack of hides, and means located between the feeding and starting Wheels for brushing or flattening out the hide prior to its engagementV by the feed Wheels.

4. In a hide feeding machine, the com- 5 bination of feed rolls7 means associated therewith for smoothing out hides prior to the engagement thereof With such feed rolls, means for feeding a plurality of hides in 

